A library wedding is the perfect way for book lovers to celebrate their special day. Kate and Joshua chose the Julia Ideson Library to celebrate their union the same way.
This Julia Ideson Library Wedding will always be a special one for me. Its not just because of the historic and elegant theme but because of Kate and Josh’s beautiful story.
“Josh proposed to me at a special spot at Discovery Green in Houston,” says our blushing bride. “We had a habit of sitting on the same bench and eventually we ended up calling it ‘our bench’. Josh had planned a special dinner and we went on a walk about the park. A few feet before our bench he started talking about how lucky he was and the amazing future we were going to have. Then he got down on one knee right by our bench. He said “Will you marry me? Please say yes!” It was adorable, I laughed yes.”
“We finished the evening with dinner and champagne. It was nice to have something so intimate be just about us,” she said.
When they got engaged in May, Kate and Josh knew they only had a few short months to prepare for their ceremony. Kate had always dreamed of a winter wedding and Christmas is her favorite time of year. With three of Josh’s brothers in the military, they knew Christmas was the perfect time to bring his family together for the wedding. They also knew they wanted a library wedding and Kate’s mother had already began collecting books for it.
“I am a former event planner, so I was sure I could get everything planned in a very short time and feel comfortable about the vendors because majority were friends!” said Kate.
“While I was still working with our planner, A Fare Extraordinaire, I built our menu, diagrams, and main design and décor with their amazing team of planners. I was so lucky to know so many amazing vendors that were available to make the day perfect!” she added. All these amazing vendors ensured that Kate’s special day went off without a hitch, even when they had such a short time to prepare for her big day.
The Houston Public Library is the perfect venue for a historic library setting and complemented their overall theme beautifully. The Julia Ideson Building is one of Houston’s best kept secrets. With tall ceilings, historic Spanish architecture, and its beautifully restored splendor, the Julia Ideson Library can transport you into a whole other world. It was built in 1926 and the minute you step inside the building, you can feel its old-world charm pulling you back to that era.
The corridors with high-arched windows and its romantic spaces make the Houston Public Library a perfect venue for weddings. In the case of our happy couple, it also added to their beautiful theme that combined the groom’s Welsh and Scottish heritages with the bride’s
Irish heritage.
They ‘tied the knot’ on December 23, 2017 in the Julia Ideson Building and included several themes from the bride and groom’s heritages. Since they come from Welsh, Scottish, and Irish backgrounds, they included handfasting in their ceremony where the bride and groom’s hands are ‘tied with a knot’. It’s an ancient Celtic ritual that signifies the binding or union of two lives.
This delightful Julia Ideson library wedding had classic single red rosebud vases and books as the centerpieces. “Our seating tables had books that my Mom had been collecting from bookstores to really tie in the Library,” Kate said.
It was a dream moment for Kate as she walked down the aisle in her fairytale of a library wedding. She said, “On our wedding day we had a ton of special little things incorporated into the day. Our ceremony was officiated by Josh’s dad, former Command Sergeant Major R. Shawn Powell. He wrote the entire ceremony specifically for us – it was beautiful. I walked down the aisle to Sweet Child O Mine by Guns N Roses played on strings.”
Their exit, while an overwhelming moment, was also made special by their friends and family. “We had a bagpiper lead us out for our exit and I had a snow-blower – our friends even rang jingle bells tied with burgundy ribbon,” Kate said.
Other customers aside, for this happy couple, their Julia Ideson Library Wedding definitely turned out to be everything they had ever wanted the most special day of their lives to be.
Vendor acknowledgements
Wedding date: 12/23/2017
Caterer: A Fare Extraordinaire | Ceremony Venue : Julia Ideson Library | Cake – Wedding: World Catering and Bakery | Entertainment: PRP Entertainment | Month of Event Planner: Harper Events | Flowers: Arte & Design | Gown: Rita Vinieris | Bridal Salon: Ivory Bridal Atelier | Invitations: Shine Wedding Invitations| Photographers: Ama by Aisha | Reception Venue: Julia Ideson Library | Rentals & Décor: A Finer Event c/o A Fare Extraordinaire | Makeup: Makeup by Mari | Hair: Jourdan Moore